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Pamela Baker (SBTS Writer)-Historian
to remember
Minix, Orville Ray, S1c.
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Casualty Info
Last Address Kentucky
Casualty Date Dec 07, 1941
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Torpedoed
Location Hawaii
Conflict World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Attack on Pearl Harbor
Location of Interment Floral Park Cemetery - Indianapolis, Indiana
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
S1c Orville Minix stationd aboard the USS Helena (CL-50) and was wounded on December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was sent to the naval hospital in Pearl Harbor where he died from his wounds. He was buried in one of the local cemeteries; however, his remains were returned to his family and he was buried in Indiana in 1947.
Comments/Citation:
Seaman First Class Orville Ray Minix, #2915007
Born on June 24, 1912 in Kentucky, Orville Ray Minix was the first child of Reuben and Laura Centers Minix. Orville’s early years were challenging times. In 1917, the United States entered World War I. Known as The Great War, it claimed 40 million civilian and military casualties. Though 1918 brought peace, death dogged the world as the Spanish influenza pandemic erupted. When the pandemic ended two years later, 50 million people were dead worldwide, including 675,000 in the United States.
When Orville was 14, his brother, James was born into the family in 1926. In or around 1930, Reuben, a coal mine worker, moved his wife and sons to Indiana. The onset of the Great Depression, coupled with harsh deprivations in company coal towns may have caused the elder Minix to resettle north of his home state. Any optimism occasioned by the move was short-lived.
The Depression era (1929-1940) created heretofore unknown levels of misery and despair. For more than a decade, the financial catastrophe devastated vast global economies, leaving families destitute and hungry. The national unemployment rate averaged 25 percent, though, in some states, the rate was much higher.
As Americans struggled to find work on home soil, Orville Minix chose a different path. He enlisted with the United States Navy on March 18, 1937 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ranked as Seaman First Class, Minix was stationed aboard the USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) on August 3, 1939. He was transferred on August 26, 1939 to the USS Helena (CL-50.)
The Helena (CL-50,) was a Brooklyn-Class light cruiser, the ninth and final ship within that class. Following its commissioning, the Helena took part in various exercises and deployments before being assigned to the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii in 1940. Aboard his ship, S1C Minix would become a casualty of a pivotal day in world history.
By 1940, America and the world sensed an easing of the Great Depression’s grip. In Europe, far-reaching political issues eclipsed improving economies. Since the mid-1930s, Adolf Hitler’s influence and power had grown in Germany through the Nazi Party. Attacking Poland in 1939, his Blitzkrieg exploded into World War II. Another, equally significant threat arose when Japan invaded its Far East neighbors, paralleling Germany’s push become a world power. During 1941, Japan and the United States maintained an uneasy relationship that devolved into resigned anticipation of certain conflict.
On December 6, President Roosevelt made a direct appeal to Emperor Hirohito, urging the aversion of war between their two nations. As the country awaited the outcome of the diplomatic petition, enemy naval and air forces were gathered less than 300 miles north of Oahu. Six Japanese carriers, with cruisers and destroyers were positioned to strike the Hawaiian harbor. The carriers held 420 attack aircraft, fueled and loaded with bombs and torpedoes.
The following bright morning, Christmas holidays nearing, a north wind of 10 knots blew over Pearl Harbor. Flying through scattered clouds, planes bearing a red disc festooned with rays of the Rising Sun bore down on American ships and their crews. Aboard those ships, men searched skyward as the din of hundreds of engines resonated closer. It was 0755 hours.
General Quarters! This is not a Drill!
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the light cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) was in the berth that the USS Pennsylvania usually occupied. Because of this, she became a target of the Japanese. A torpedo hit on her starboard side. She began to flood but her crew managed to get it under control. This allowed for a generator to power her gun mounts. The men aboard the Helena fought back. When the attack was over, 34 men died aboard the Helena.
The Helena’s casualties included men with third degree burns and wounds from high impact explosives. S1C Minix suffered life-threatening injuries for which he was treated at the Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital. Orville Ray Minix, 29, died on December 21, 1941. He was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously. Survived by his parents and brother, S1C Minix was interred in Oahu until after the war. He was laid to final rest at Floral Park Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 30, 1947.
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen serviceperson’s name and read his/her story.
Stories Behind the Stars Contributing Author: Pamela C. Baker
Pamela Baker (SBTS Writer)-Historian
to remember
Minix, Orville Ray, S1c.
